Keith Tan, CEO and Founder of Crown Technologies
Crown Technologies, a Singapore-based startup that has developed an autonomous robotic coffee barista, has secured a strategic, cross-border investment from JR East Business Development SEA, a subsidiary of East Japan Railway Company.
The investment will accelerate the rollout of ELLA, the Artificial Intelligence-powered robotic barista designed for unmanned and contactless retail operations in high-volume environments.
ELLA will be deployed across East Japan Railway’s network of 1,657 train stations that serve an average of 17 million passengers daily, with completion slated to meet the increased demands of the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
“Japan has long been known to embrace innovation and be at the forefront of using AI and robotics to solve social issues and achieve economic growth. By placing their bet on our technology that we’ve built in Singapore to serve the exact purpose, it not only puts us on the map, but is also the strongest testament to the vision that my team and I have worked tirelessly to build upon in the last two years,” said Keith Tan, CEO and Founder of Crown Technologies.
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ELLA is powered by an ecosystem comprising patented proprietary Internet of Things (IoT)-connected software and external hardware that the startup claims will upgrade the coffee experience with speed, convenience, quality and consistency.
Each kiosk is capable of producing 200 cups of barista-quality coffee per hour, operating 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
ELLA’s modular set-up allows its offerings to be localised for Japan market.
Immersive and innovative digital touchpoints, such as an interactive transparent OLED screen and mobile app ordering system with its own payment gateway and e-wallet, allows JR East to tap into a myriad of engagement possibilities such as advertisements and notifications targeted directly to the end user.
On the backend, computer vision powered by AI is monitoring the kiosk 24×7 for any abnormalities that may affect ELLA’s operations.
Meanwhile, a fulfilment module, powered by its own mobile app, uses predictive analytics to forecast demand and digitise the supply chain management, allowing JR East to support the replenishment and servicing of the kiosk with only a lean fulfilment team with the power of Big Data.
“ELLA is transformational with the use of AI-powered collaborative robots. ELLA ensures safety in the post COVID-19 landscape as she operates in a sealed chamber and is contactless,” said Toshio Omiyama, Managing Director of JR East Business Development SEA.
Following this strategic round of financing, Crown will be launching its Series A round shortly, as well as the deployment 30 additional commercial units of ELLA across Singapore. It launched the first commercial unit in October 2020.
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Image Credit: Crown Technologies.
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